Pearl Seas Cruises, a new US based cruise company, has cancelled the remainder of the 2009 touring season in the Atlantic region for a high-end vessel built at the Halifax Shipyard, the ChronicleHerald.ca website reports.

Pearl Seas Cruises said it had to cancel the remainder of the 2009 Eastern Canadian and St. Lawrence Seaway cruises because of deficiencies with the Pearl Mist recently discovered during sea trials, quality issues and construction delays."Pearl Seas deeply regrets this situation and is hopeful that various issues can be resolved with Irving Shipbuilding in the near future," the company based in Guilford, Conn., said in a news release.

The company has been involved in a dispute over the construction of the vessel with Irving Shipbuilding Inc., and said it would be issuing the release and not discussing the situation further. Passengers who are booked on 2009 cruises have the option of receiving a full refund of their deposits or rebooking for a later cruise. Pearl Seas Cruises said is "very appreciative of the tremendous support" it received from of all the Canadian provinces and communities where the ship was scheduled to visit this year.The company had hoped its small cruising vessel would be ready for service in May 2008. Construction delays kept pushing back the delivery date.

Pearl Seas Cruises had previously cancelled a Caribbean tour with the Halifax-built vessel, which can accommodate about 214 passengers. An official with Irving Shipbuilding has previously suggested that delays with engineering-and-design instructions were behind the construction delays, the report said.

Irving has built offshore vessels, rigs and tugs prior to entering the cruise sector with the contract with Pearl Seas Cruises. It is also a ship repair co,pany.